I retired about ten years ago. As a kid my father had a lot of tools . My brother and I would go over to my uncles place where he lived . He built houses over the years on this property we would gather scraps from his builds. We built things go carts from old lawn mowers. Ended up working summers with my uncle building house while we were in college. So when I retired my desire to build things was still there . Now I had the time so got into wood working. I would buy magazines get ideas.
Here is a couple of tips lets call them don'ts . Don't go down to the big box store and buy the lumber to the exact dimension but buy wider and rip and remember you loss 1/8 from ever rip cut. Usually you will have one bad edge you may lose 1/2 inch so factor that in your decisions. Others may not agree with I'm going to say but works for me. I next cross cut all my parts that are the same dimension to length using a stop block. This way your getting all same length. Plan ahead the most efficient cutting. Another don't just cut the stock find the best edge and most square. Try to work around knots eliminate if possible or make sure knots are not in work piece ends. The reason for cross cutting first less length to rip cut . The safer the cut on the table saw. Always rip all cuts the same width together. Same applies to cross cuts. Except where you may similar parts if you use the shorter length not enough board length. In that case cut to the longer length and cross cut the remainder to there length